


The Hoshi Sato Story - Universal Translator/Timeline Protector

by TrekBec82



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen, Temporal Cold War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-16 04:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20188843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekBec82/pseuds/TrekBec82
Summary: Hoshi Sato is a Temporal Agent.





	The Hoshi Sato Story - Universal Translator/Timeline Protector

**Author's Note:**

> This was written way back in 2002-2003. It was originally published on Bec's Trek Page - my own website hosted by Geocities - but they closed down in 2009, so it's entirely thanks to brilliant archivists that I'm able to access my old fics, and replicate them here. This is the third fanfic I ever wrote, and I'm posting it _almost_ exactly as it was in 2003 - the only edits being that it's all on one page instead of divided into six, and one corrected spelling error. It's a work-in-progress which I never completed - and probably never will, given that it's been 16 years. I honestly don't remember what I was aiming for, but I hope you enjoy.

_Part One, written August 9, 2002_  
**An officer like no other.**

Meet Ensign Hoshi Sato, Communications Officer of the NX-01 Enterprise, the first Warp-5 vessel in Earth’s Starfleet. She’s trained in exo-linguistics, can learn alien languages faster than the universal translator, and gets space sick every time the ship jumps to warp.

Everyone knows she has trained to be in Starfleet. Everyone knows she has been trained in exo-linguistics. Nobody realises she has been trained to blend in. Nor do they realise she is from the future. And they most certainly don’t realise that she knows languages they have never heard of...because she has been to planets they don’t know exist.

Hoshi is from 3082, and as a member of a secret organisation founded to protect the timeline, she possesses knowledge that not even the Vulcan High Command of her time have heard about. Unlike Crewman Daniels, who blew his cover less than six months into the mission, Hoshi is an expert at keeping secrets.

She was trained in stealth tactics from the age of 3, can read, write and speak 53,962 languages fluently, and is currently learning a further 43,691 languages. She has a cortical implant, enabling 75% of her brain to function at a time, unlike the usual 10% or so used by the average human being.

What is perhaps most startling about Hoshi Sato is her rank. Undercover on the Enterprise, she is a lowly ensign. In reality, she is an upper-level Admiral, and one of the leaders of the secretive Starfleet organisation involved in the temporal cold war against the Suliban, or more accurately, the Cabal.

Ms Sato was sent to the past to protect the future, and is under direct orders from her superiors (the few that exist) to use whatever means necessary to prevent any changes to the timeline. Her space sickness is due to the fact that people in her time have perfected warp drive to the extent where the change in velocity is undetectable to even the most motion-sensitive of alien species.

Everyone thinks Hoshi is a miracle worker when it comes to the translation of alien languages...imagine their reactions if they were ever to discover what a marvel the woman truly is...

_Part Two, written August 10-11, 2002_  
**Time's keeper, crew deceiver.**

Many of her fellow crew wonder at Hoshi’s apparent lack of self-esteem and confidence, not knowing how supremely confident in herself she in fact is. Her feigned uncertainty about space travel is perhaps her best ploy, making quite certain that nobody suspects her for who she truly is. Should they learn her real identity, everyone aboard Enterprise would be both shocked, and endangered. The secrecy of Hoshi’s identity is vital to not only her mission, but also to the safety of both the Enterprise and her crew.

The Klingons, Andorians and Ferengi are nothing compared to the real dangers of space, a fact which Hoshi knows better than anyone, from her time or Enterprise’s. There are moments, of course, where Hoshi would dearly love to tell somebody the details she knows about the world in which they live, but must restrain herself. If the Enterprise crew ever became aware of the species and planets abounding the multiverse, they would be no doubt stunned. Should they just learn of the existence of a multiverse, they would be dumbfounded. So many things the humans of the 22nd century did not know of, nor dream about, it was hard at times for her to even think of them as being the same species. In the 31st century, people travel between universes with greater ease than the Enterprise travels between planets!

Captain Archer, Commander Tucker, Sub-Commander T’Pol, Lieutenant Reed, Ensign Mayweather, Doctor Phlox...and the Vulcan High Command, would all be greatly surprised if they discovered even 25th century levels of knowledge and technology...the 31st century would probably seem like another plane of existence all together to them. It’s up to Hoshi to, firstly, ensure the timeline does not alter between the 22nd and 31st centuries, and secondly, ensure that the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise do not discover her identity or mission. She will see her duties through to the completion of her mission, and nothing will stop her.

_Part Three, written August 11, 2002_  
**Another time, another life.**

A normal day for Ensign (Admiral) Hoshi Sato begins at 5 a.m. - an early start to allow for maximum possible time-conservation. By 7:30, she has gone through an exercise routine anyone else on the ship would classify as torture, showered and eaten breakfast, as well as contacted her superiors for updates and alerts.

Duty shift begins at 8 a.m., for which Hoshi is frequently early, and never late. You might think Hoshi has an easy time of it, being the communications officer, but doing double-duty keeps her on the go all day. When she isn’t unravelling some long-forgotten species’ language, she’s listening for any type of communication in space. And then of course, there is her secret mission, which she performs both during and outside of her regular duty shift.

Hoshi must be constantly alert for even the slightest tampering of the timeline. The Suliban (Cabal), along with their overlords from the future, must be constantly observed, ensuring they do not make attempts to alter anything in the multiverse through time-tampering.

If it weren’t for the Suliban (Cabal), Hoshi may never have become a temporal investigator for Starfleet’s top-secret agency. Of course, her parents had already decided she would be a secret agent of some kind, what with the training she underwent as a child, and the implantation of the cortical stimulator . At school, Hoshi just tried to blend in with her classmates - trouble was, she did it so well that it only furthered her parents insistence she be trained as an operative. Now, her days were spent not only doing a double duty for two different versions of Starfleet, but also trying to reconcile the Hoshi that was, with the Hoshi she wished she could be.

If she was honest with herself, Hoshi would admit she wouldn’t mind staying in the 22nd century. Though a technological dark age compared with the 31st, this century has something her own does not - freedom. Freedom to be whomever you choose, rather than what your parents engineer for you, before you are even conceived. Not only is this century a far freer one, but it is also a time of great discovery for the human race, and an exciting time at that. Never before has Hoshi felt so needed as she does in this time, on this ship. The Enterprise has become her home, and it’s crew her family. She belongs here, no matter what her parents and the 31st century Starfleet tell her.

_Part Four, written August 24, 2002_  
**Life, 22nd century style.**

Many might wonder why genetic engineering is permitted in the 31st century, when it wasn’t in Kirk’s era, or Picard, Sisko & Janeway’s. Fact of the matter is, it’s not legal in Hoshi’s time either...but there are loopholes, and laws are often bent to suit the wealthy, same as at any time in history. Problem is, there are a great many wealthy, childless couples who decide to follow the same path as Hoshi’s parents did, and decide their child’s fate, with little or no regard for the consequences the child may suffer. There may not be money in Starfleet, but civilians still have the tendency to pursue material wealth, often to the detriment of others less fortunate.

31st century Starfleet is no less upstanding than in earlier centuries, but with the UFP being so much larger, it is impossible to ensure the well-being of all members of every species. Hoshi was recruited by Starfleet on her 15th birthday, the youngest cadet to ever join the Academy. Everyone knew she was a G-E girl, but she worked hard, listened attentively, and learned quickly, making her a favourite with teachers and cadets alike. Starfleet was a haven compared to home, because though there was pressure to succeed, and pressure to push limits, it was something they all experienced, as opposed to something Hoshi alone had to endure.

That was until she was enlisted to join the temporal protection agency. Life then became one great challenge. A challenge not to be furious at her pushy parents, a challenge to do the work, but most of all, a challenge to keep friends, when she couldn’t tell them anything about her life anymore. Hoshi loved challenges, and rose to meet all of them, but often wished she could go back to a more normal way of life. That’s one reason why Hoshi loves the 22nd century, the Enterprise & it’s crew - they are pioneers in their field, but can still lead relatively normal lives.

The 31st century isn’t all bad, but the 22nd is far more enjoyable, despite the lack in technological advancements. Even the holodecks on the Enterprise 1701-E are archaic compared to what Hoshi is used to...the NX-01 Enterprise is positively prehistoric in it’s recreational activities...but no less enjoyable, for they allow the imagination to wander many paths...many, many paths, not explored in centuries.

_Part Five, written October 7, 2002._  
**A note from the author regarding the Enterprise episode "Shockwave (part 1)".**

By this stage in the story, you, the reader, are most likely thinking that Hoshi didn’t do a very good job of protecting the timeline when Captain Archer was sent to the 31st century, allowing the timeline to be so dramatically altered as it was.

There is only one simple explanation for this - it was supposed to happen. Archer was supposed to go to the 31st century, and the world as they knew it was supposed to be destroyed...so that it could be restored. If it were not for such a tragic occurrence, the people of Archer’s time would not have had the opportunity to discover time-travel, or gain any of the other knowledge that the experience gave them.

The timeline had to be altered so that Archer’s people could alter it back, and gain a greater understanding of the universe. Hoshi did her job extremely well in that instance...again, far better than Mr Daniels did his job. Never send a man to do a woman’s task...

_Part Six, written April 28, 2003._  
**Back to the drawing board.**

After more than a year since joining the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise, Hoshi Sato is really feeling at home. She doesn’t get sick from jumping to warp anymore, she’s got friends - she even had a pet for a short while. Sure, she misses the creature comforts of “home” in the 31st century, but life has taken her on enough adventures in the 22nd to keep her from getting bored.

With no sight of the wretched Cabal in some time, Hoshi’s finally had some time to relax, too. She’s having more fun now than she had as a child - and all because she can be herself, rather than being manipulated to the extremes of her old life. Of course, she still keeps in touch with her family and superiors in the 3080's, but with suspiciously little activity on the front of the Temporal Cold War, even those contacts have become limited.

Her fellow crewmates think she’s finally found her space legs - in reality, she’s finally found herself. Hoshi loves that she can sleep in on her days off if she wants too - she never does, but just having the option to do so thrills her to bits. For the first time in her life, Hoshi is really loving what she does. In her spare time, she can relax with her Denobulan friend Dr. Phlox, and learn his language, or watch a movie in the mess hall on crew night. If she wanted to, she could even go and sit upside down on the ship’s sweet spot with fellow ensign, Travis Mayweather.

Hoshi Sato is happy. She never thought she’d really be able to say that...but she is. Comparing her 22nd century life to her 31st, you could easily say that someone went right back to the drawing board, and started her off fresh again. That’s quite literally the way Hoshi feels - as though a breath of fresh air came into her life, right when she needed it most. This mission was precisely was Hoshi had needed. And now her dreams are coming true because of it.

Hoshi just hopes those dreams don’t come crashing down around her when the Cabal come back. Which they undoubtedly will. It’s only a matter of time...


End file.
